Turtledove, I would run, not walk, to a different tax prep company. I don't want to stray into legal advise, but I will say they'e told you several things that are incorrect. You don't need to be dealing with badly prepared taxes in addition to the other stuff.

Logged

Some people lift weights. I lift measures. It's a far more esoteric workout. - (Quoted from a personal friend)

I would have gone quite eHell unapproved. And I'm a lot more shy in person than I am here! I would have likely said something to the effect of "Look at our earnings, comparably. Does it *really* look like he was the head of household?!"

I have spoken with quite a few people at the place about the entire situation. One of them told me that some of their tax preparers are older and simply always list the man as head of household. They also told me that since I am not married this year I cannot be head of household as a single woman. I guess my 4.5 year old is? But wait, she's a single girl too!

My local supermarket sells the most lovely fish, whole fish for $10 a pound. I want to take a $150 fish and beat them upside the head with it.

DH and I decided to buy a wedding band for me. (When we got engaged and married, I was fine with just my engagement ring. A couple of years later, and we're able to afford a band to go with it.)

I picked the ring, and handed my credit card to the salesman. I get miles, so DH will just reimburse me. THEY INSISTED ON PUTTING HIS NAME ON THE RECEIPT!!!! Even though I paid for it with MY credit card.

Now, I do get it: men probably still purchase more jewelry for women than women do for men. And all sales advertising will probably come to the house addressed to DH. Fine, ask for his name for the mailing list. That would have been less weird. But I was still really taken aback that they listed his name on the actual receipt.

FedEx has delivered another package beyond reasonably damaged. I've taken plenty of pictures of the damage, so maybe I could post a few a bit later, but...

I'm with you on this. I wish I could stop any and all FedEx deliveries. When I attend seminars that laud them as examples of customer service I want to scream.

Incident 1:The library's main server went down causing us to stop all circulation (I will cut out the Dell problems and problems with the mailbox store folks). Our new server has all our patron account information on it and is being FedEx-ed to us. We pay extra for super speedy, before noon delivery.

Our business manager's husband works at the local jetplex and calls her at 6 am to say the FedEx plane landed and he checked to see that our server was there. He sends her a photo of the box! Great! Noon rolls by and no server. I start calling the local office. I'm first told that it was still in Memphis. No, the tracking number has it arriving that morning and we've had visual confirmation that was 26 miles away. No, it was delayed because of weather.

1pm rolls by and I call again. Oh, it's arrived and is on the truck for delivery. It will be there after all the other packages in Our City are delivered. Why? We know it was at the airport at 6am and we paid for super speedy delivery. "I'm sorry, there's no guarantee now because of the weather delay."

At 4pm we hear a big thump behind the library. The delivery woman rolled the box off the end of the truck. She drags through wet puddles into the building. The box had huge, wet holes in it. Do I need to say I was unhappy?

I take photos of the box, print all the tracking information, and have statements from the jetplex cargo folks attesting the box arrived by 6am. I send it all to the local and national offices of FedEx. The ultimate response was, "Sorry, it was a weather delay and we're not responsible."

Incident 2:We have ordered new shelving and the owner of the library shelving company has come himself from 100 miles away. He wants to introduce a new assistant. Assistant accidentally leaves his portfolio binder here with all his client contact in it. Assistant calls and says that FedEx will be picking up the binder. Fine, we box it up and it gets picked up.

Two weeks later the assistant calls and asks about his binder. We explain that it was picked up two weeks ago and we don't have it. A month later FedEx brings me a box. Yes, you guessed it--the poor assistant's binder is delivered. The delivery address is clearly in the city 100 miles away. Ours is the pickup address. Where it has been the entire time is a mystery. I take it to the post office and send it with a return receipt. Two days later assistant has it in hand.

Please don't send me anything via FedEx!

Right on point! We've had repeated offenses with them (re: It's not the first time this crap has happened), and believe it or not, we've had boxes turn up in worse shape then the one I described. One of them was practically collapsed, the top had fallen into the box and was ripped to shreds. Plus, to make our lives interesting, the box had lilac scented dish detergent, and the bottles had all broken open because of the mistreating. This also soaked the box in the liquid, and was part of its downfall.

This was inside another box, so we didn't notice anything funny until after we opened the nearly new looking box! Yes, they KNEW it was damaged to have reboxed it! And our house smelled like a faux lilac scented mess for weeks, the smell was absolutely awful. Never again...

DH and I decided to buy a wedding band for me. (When we got engaged and married, I was fine with just my engagement ring. A couple of years later, and we're able to afford a band to go with it.)

I picked the ring, and handed my credit card to the salesman. I get miles, so DH will just reimburse me. THEY INSISTED ON PUTTING HIS NAME ON THE RECEIPT!!!! Even though I paid for it with MY credit card.

Now, I do get it: men probably still purchase more jewelry for women than women do for men. And all sales advertising will probably come to the house addressed to DH. Fine, ask for his name for the mailing list. That would have been less weird. But I was still really taken aback that they listed his name on the actual receipt.

I'd have refused right then and there simply on principle. I also would have told them exactly why.

Turtledove, I would run, not walk, to a different tax prep company. I don't want to stray into legal advise, but I will say they'e told you several things that are incorrect. You don't need to be dealing with badly prepared taxes in addition to the other stuff.

POD to this. At the very least, go to the IRS website (irs.gov); it has the actual correct info as opposed to what you're getting from these people.

Years ago my parked car was hit in the parking lot of a restaurant by their food delivery truck. First, the truck wasn't supposed to be in the parking lot at all as there was a low overhang, the entrance to the lot was clearly marked as "No Trucks". Luckily some kids saw him hit my car and drive on, so they came in to the restaurant and found me. Food truck driver denied it six ways from sunday until I pointed out to him the rubber strip from my bumper hanging from the grille of his truck like the proverbial cat with the canary feather. All this was annoying enough, but when I finally got the check from the food service company insurer...it was made out to my husband. JUST my husband. The damaged car was titled and registered in my name only, as I had had it before I was married. I don't know how they even found out his name. While this didn't actually cause a problem for me as I just had DH deposit the check in our joint account I did call the company and read them the riot act about sending checks made out to someone other than the registered owner of the vehicle. There were a whole lot of ways that this could have gone wrong. I'm just glad that they were not MY insurance company.

Dang, are single women not able to get insurance from this place? It looks as if that might be the case with that attitude.

In 2011, my husband killed himself. When tax time came, I went to Tax Place because I wanted to be sure I was doing his and my taxes correctly. For some reason, despite the fact that my husband was dead and made literally 1/20 of the money I made, they insisted that he had to be listed as Head of Household and I would be listed as Surviving Spouse. Various things were screwed up on the returns and the company continually called me asking to speak to my dead husband and refusing to speak to me because they needed to speak with the Head of Household. At the time I still suffered from PTSD relating to his death and this was quite traumatic for me. At one point, after three calls in two days asking to speak to my dead husband and the callers simply not grasping that they never would be able to, I told them to go to h#ll and they could talk to him there. The calls stopped after that. Yes, I know I should have kept my temper in check. I blame the PTSD.

Anyway, things finally resolved. I thought. This year I went back to the same place (it's right by my work and very convenient) bringing my tax stuff with me (I had made an appointment). They told me I was not in their system. Eventually they discover that I am in their system - as the Surviving Spouse of my deceased husband. They cannot figure out how to do my taxes unless my dead husband approves various changes, they said. I will admit I lost it. I still have not finished my taxes, but really, it is not that rare for a surviving spouse to file taxes. Why on earth did they screw this up so horribly? And two years in a row??? I am getting a panic attack even typing this post!

Wow. This goes beyond "never shopping there again" right to "never acknowledging this place's existence again." Good grief. Everyone who works at this place sounds either profoundly stupid or completely heartless.

Rob

Logged

"In all of mankind's history, there has never been more damage done than by someone who 'thought they were doing the right thing'." -- Lucy, Peanuts

Dang, are single women not able to get insurance from this place? It looks as if that might be the case with that attitude.

In 2011, my husband killed himself. When tax time came, I went to Tax Place because I wanted to be sure I was doing his and my taxes correctly. For some reason, despite the fact that my husband was dead and made literally 1/20 of the money I made, they insisted that he had to be listed as Head of Household and I would be listed as Surviving Spouse. Various things were screwed up on the returns and the company continually called me asking to speak to my dead husband and refusing to speak to me because they needed to speak with the Head of Household. At the time I still suffered from PTSD relating to his death and this was quite traumatic for me. At one point, after three calls in two days asking to speak to my dead husband and the callers simply not grasping that they never would be able to, I told them to go to h#ll and they could talk to him there. The calls stopped after that. Yes, I know I should have kept my temper in check. I blame the PTSD.

Anyway, things finally resolved. I thought. This year I went back to the same place (it's right by my work and very convenient) bringing my tax stuff with me (I had made an appointment). They told me I was not in their system. Eventually they discover that I am in their system - as the Surviving Spouse of my deceased husband. They cannot figure out how to do my taxes unless my dead husband approves various changes, they said. I will admit I lost it. I still have not finished my taxes, but really, it is not that rare for a surviving spouse to file taxes. Why on earth did they screw this up so horribly? And two years in a row??? I am getting a panic attack even typing this post!

Wow. This goes beyond "never shopping there again" right to "never acknowledging this place's existence again." Good grief. Everyone who works at this place sounds either profoundly stupid or completely heartless.

Rob

Or both. What a horrible experience for you, TurtleDove. I would run, not walk, from these people. And write them up on any possible review sites you can find. And (Once you've got any paperwork you need from them, if that applies) make a formal complaint. Do they have any kind of trade body or ombudsman?

So, a few years ago I had a non-standard sized print I wanted to get framed, so I took it in. Had a discussion about the style / colour of the frame etc, picked what I wanted (which wasn't complication, it was a plain, matt black wooden frame and a pale grey mount) They gave me a price, I paid 50% deposit and was told it would be 2 weeks.

2 weeks later - nothing. I was busy that weekend, assumed that they hadn't called as they'd told me when I dropped it off it would be 2 weeks (although they did also say they'd call when it was done). Went in the next weekend (so 3 weeks after leaving it) No, they don't have it. They dodn't think it was necessary to call to tell me. They don't know when it will be in.

I told them I wasn't happy, and that I thought that they should have called me to let me know there was a delay. I was also not happy to learn that they actually send everything away, they don't do the framing themselves. This was not made clear when I dropped it off)

So, I ask them to speak to the framer, find out what the delay is, and get a firm date to get it back, and made it clear that I expected it to be done without more delay.

3 weeks later (and after several further calls from me, and none at all from them) it's finally back. Except the framer didn't have the frame I picked, so he chose a different one instead. Without consulting me. The new frame was lightly more expensive and they expected me to pay the difference! At that point, I told them that I was prepared to take it with the wrong frame (which was close to what I'd picked) but I felt they ought to be offering me a discount for having taken 3 times as long as they promised, changing my order without consulting me, and failing to keep me informed even after promising to do so. They backed down.

About 6 months later I had another framing job. In the mean time, I've had friends tell me they have had good servioce there so I thought maybe I'd just been really unlucky, and decided to give therm a second chance (they are the only place in town which offers framing, too)

second time round it was even worse. Based on my previous experience, I specifically requested that they call me if there were any difficulty, and that they *not* make any changes without my agreement. I also asked if the timescale they'd given me was accurate, explaining the previous problems. This time, they told me it would definitely be back in 3 weeks. You can see where this is going, can't you?

After 5 weeks, and several calls, my picture is ready for me to pick up. When I go in, they tell me that they didn't have the frame I'd picked, but they were sure I'd like what they'd done instead. The frame I picked was a very plain, narrow, matt, silver frame, to complement the greys and silvers in the picture. The frame they'd used was twice as wide, and was a glossy gold colour, with lots of detailing on it. It looked really cheap and tacky, really didn't suit the style of the picture and was absolutely nothing like what I ordered.

At this point I was furious and requested a refund of the 50% deposit I had paid. Which they refused. They were "prepared to let me" have my picture back, unframed, without charging me for the framing, though, "as a gesture of goodwill"

It was at this point that told them (I'd reached "Icy Politeness" at this point) that no, they were going to return my picture and refund my money, or alternatively I would be taking my picture, and making a claim through the small claims court for breach of contract, reporting the transaction to my credit card company as fraudulent since they had clearly not made any attempt to carry out their part of the contract, and that I would be contacting the local paper with full details.

The owner did then decide that I could have my money back, but the whole time she was processing the transaction was grumbling out loud (in earshot of other customers) about how people like me were really unreasonable and ruining local businesses. I am afraid my e-hell approced manner slipped at this point and I told her (very clearly, and loudly enough for the other customers to hear) that if she could not cope with customers unreasonable enough to carry out the work she contracted to do, in the time and they way in which she had promised to do it, she should not be running a business, and that she was extremely lucky I was not demanding interest from her on MY money which she had held for SIX WEEKS without doing any of the work she was paid for.

I have not bought anything there since, and advise visiting friends and family not to shop there. If they's simply messed up my orders I'd have given up using the framing service, but given the owner basically accused me of stealing from her, she is not getting a penny more from me.

I've since found (in the next town over) a far better framer - he's very good, takes infinite pains to get what you want, and, despite the fact I only go there maybe once or twice a year, always remembers who I am. Last time I had something framed, when I went back to collect it he came out to show me that he had done it as he and I had discussed, but having seen how it looked when it was finished, he didn't think it worked as well as we'd hoped, recommended that we do it differently (with a hessian backing instead of card) and made the changes without charging, because although he'd done exactly what I ordered, he felt I'd picked that backing on his advice so it was his mistake. Now him I recommend!

Turtledove, I would run, not walk, to a different tax prep company. I don't want to stray into legal advise, but I will say they'e told you several things that are incorrect. You don't need to be dealing with badly prepared taxes in addition to the other stuff.

Take last years also - so the new place can file an amended return if you need to.

We were out and about yesterday on the other side of town, so DH and I (with the DDs in tow) stopped in at a restaurant his parents like. I've been there a few times before - it's a big diner, the kind that serves biscuits & gravy all day and always has old people eating there. It's known for being a hangout for local politicians - the last few times we went with the ILs, we ran into some politicians FIL knows.

Anyway, the restaurant is actually three dining rooms - one main room, one side room, and a bunch of booths and tables around a central register near the door. We got there right at noon on a Saturday, so I thought they might be busy, but the parking lot was half-empty. Fine, maybe their busy time is mostly during the week?

We get in and stand around awkwardly for five minutes or so until some other customers come in and brush past us to seat themselves, at which point we realized we probably should just find our own table. (We were standing less than ten feet from the cashier at the register - she was helping/chatting with someone paying, but she still ought to have noticed us and let us know it was self-seating!) We made our way into one of the other two dining rooms and had our choice of two tables (out of the dozen or so there). Not because the others were busy, mind you, but because they all had dirty dishes on them!

Ten minutes later an octogenarian in a waitress uniform shuffles up to our table and takes our drink orders. Menus? Oh, yeah, they do have menus . . . [insert shuffling over to one of the unbussed tables and scrounging for some greasy papers here.] The menus were just printer paper, not even laminated, and had obviously seen better days. Our waitress wanders off after taking our drink orders and picking up one (only one) dirty plate from one of the nearby tables. She did eventually come back with our drinks so we could order (DH's drink was wrong). I asked for my salad's tomatoes to be on the side.

Out comes our food and - surprise! - I not only have a salad covered in tomatoes, but an extra plate of sliced tomatoes as well. "Chunked" tomatoes would be more accurate - the slices were about an inch thick. I made some comment about them as I pointedly added my salad's tomatoes to the extra plate, and the waitress mumbled something about taking the charge for the extra tomatoes off the bill since she had misheard me.

Babybartfast's french fries weren't cooked all the way through, and I couldn't tell which bit on my plate was chicken salad and which was tuna salad (One was yellow and pickle-fish-flavored, the other was white and pickle-fish-flavored.) Third salad in the trio was waldorf salad, which was pretty good despite the hair in it.

We waited around a while after finishing, and DH finally had to go into the other dining room and flag down someone else's waitress to get the bill. I mean, I'm all for people doing whatever jobs they can do despite their age, but part of being a waitress is being mobile and our waitress . . . wasn't, really.

I don't remember this place being this bad last time we were here, but I'm not eager for there to be a next time either. The sad thing is, it's been open for 80 years - maybe the sad lack of lunch traffic is a sign of change.